


worth waiting for

by asukesay



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-23 09:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6112252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asukesay/pseuds/asukesay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s only for a year, and then he’ll be right where he needs to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	worth waiting for

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that they’re really not as far as it sometimes seems they are.

And Akaashi knows it’s not worth getting upset over - not when Bokuto comes home some weekends, sleeps over and complains about his classwork. The classwork that he brings with him because he has to study to maintain his grades to stay on his university volleyball team.  Akaashi is happy to help him with his work, because he wants Bokuto to succeed and wants him  _close_ , and having Bokuto sit at the desk in Akaashi’s bedroom, slowly making a dent in the work that has accumulated since his last visit while Akaashi sits beside him, so close their thighs press together, is like hitting two birds with one stone.

Akaashi likes this.  He likes when Bokuto is home and he can forget that in a few short days Bokuto will have to go back to university and it’ll be another long who-knows-how-long before he can have the wing spiker as close as he wants him.  But Bokuto whines and shoulders him playfully, asking with big, golden eyes if Akaashi would, ‘ _be so kind as to do this stupid essay for me?_ ’ and Akaashi doesn’t dwell on the soon-to-be distance; just leans over and brushes his lips against Bokuto’s cheek, effectively stunning him into silence. 

“Finish your essay and we can take a break.” Akaashi tells him, eyes gleaming in what he hopes is suggestive enough to get his point across without having to say it. 

Bokuto finishes his paper in record time, and they spend the rest of the night rolling around in Akaashi’s bed, with the setter weaving his fingers through the unruly, grey-black strands, pulling Bokuto close close  _closer_ while he still has him there.

The distance is easy to ignore with Bokuto wrapped in his arms.

.

Other times it’s not so easy to ignore; the volleyball club loses ninety percent of their starting players when Bokuto and the rest of the third years graduate - leaving the coach and Akaashi scrambling to whip the normally benched players and new members into shape before the playing season officially begins. 

It’s hard work, but Akaashi is the captain and wants to be to the rest of the team what Bokuto was to him when he was a first year, so he does what he has to - he opens up more and encourages and praises, and Akaashi wishes he wasn’t afraid to be like this when Bokuto was still on the team. 

A first year fumbles with his receive, and in addition to Wataru’s shouts of, ‘Don’t mind!’ from across the court, Akaashi ruffles his hair and assures the first year that he’ll get the next one.  The way his eyes light up - the smile that splits his face - reminds Akaashi so much of Bokuto that he feels his heart lurch and has to turn away to compose himself.

It hasn’t been long since he’s last seen Bokuto - a month, maybe (because he had a test and agreed to a study group on Saturday and couldn’t come home the weekend before like he was supposed to) - but just the idea of volleyball - the court and the feel of leather in his palms - makes Akaashi’s heart ache for the former Fukurodani captain. He pulls himself together before anyone can notice, training his face into its usual stoic expression, before the formation rotates. 

.

Akaashi has just returned from washing his face in the bathroom across from his bedroom when his phone rings, something popish and chirping and too loud for how tired Akaashi feels, but he picks his phone up from his nightstand and sees the name on the caller ID and feels his heart jump - just a little, and he’s suddenly wide awake. 

He slides his legs underneath his blanket the same time his thumb slides to answer the call. 

“Hello?” 

There’s a burst of static from the other line, then, “Akaashiiiiii~” 

Akaashi doesn’t fight the smile that pulls at his lips. He settles back against his pillows, head resting against his headboard. “Hello, Bokuto-san.”

There’s a shifting noise from the other line. Then, “Are you in bed?”

“Yes. Are you?”

Bokuto groans, sending a cloud of white noise into Akaashi’s ear. “You know it, and I’m never leaving. Practice was  _brutal_ today.”

Akaashi frowns at this; he knows how Bokuto can get. He’s worried himself sick over it - did Bokuto have someone there to stop him when he went too far? Did he have someone to look out for him when Akaashi could not? “You didn’t overwork yourself, did you?”

Bokuto makes an affronted noise. “You have no faith in me. Of course I didn’t; I didn’t want to be too tired to call you.”

Akaashi feels his face heating up. “Oh.”

“What about you?” Bokuto asks. “How was practice?”

“It went fine...” 

Akaashi doesn’t tell him about how much he missed seeing him on the court, how much he missed tossing to him - that would only upset Bokuto, and Akaashi doesn’t want to waste any of the time they have tonight with dejected Bokuto when he could be hearing him laugh instead, like he’s doing now as Akaashi tells him about the first year accidentally spiking a ball at Wataru’s face. 

Akaashi doesn’t know how long they talk - with Bokuto telling him about his classes and his new team and how much Akaashi is going to love college - but they chat until Akaashi’s eyelids grow heavy, lulled into relaxation by the sound of Bokuto’s voice.

Bokuto must notice Akaashi’s replies becoming shorter and shorter, because he laughs - a familiar puff of static that Akaashi loves - and tells the setter to get some sleep.

Akaashi doesn’t want to hang up yet, but he knows if he stays up any longer he’s going to be exhausted tomorrow, so he hums in agreement and says, “Are you still coming home Saturday?” 

“Friday night!” Bokuto tells him excitedly.  “Classes get out early so I’m going to take the train and get there around 5. I thought maybe we could see a movie and then spend Saturday relaxing, if you want?”

Akaashi’s heart skips a few beats. “That sounds nice.” He says honestly. “I’m looking forward to it.”

He can practically  _feel_ Bokuto’s smile radiating through the phone. “Me too.” Then, after a beat of silence: “I miss you, Akaashi.”

“I miss you too.” And Akaashi does - he misses Bokuto so much sometimes he feels like he’s not even himself anymore.  The Akaashi Keiji of two years ago would have scoffed at the idea that one day, being far away from his weird, moody senpai would make him hurt on the inside - that volleyball would be different when Bokuto wasn’t there for him to toss to and that he would fall so,  _so_ deep in love that the distance between high school and university would seem millions of miles away.

“Hey,” Bokuto’s voice is comforting in his ear - Akaashi wishes Bokuto was actually there beside him, holding him close and running his fingertips across Akaashi’s cheekbones - but he’ll take what he can get. “I love you.” Bokuto tells him. “Skype date, tomorrow?” 

“Yes,” Akaashi affirms. “If you fixed your stupid webcam.”

“I did, I did.” Bokuto pauses, expectant, and Akaashi knows exactly what he’s waiting for.

He sighs out a smile. “I love you too.” 

.

Akaashi knows this distance between them is not as bad as it could be, despite the loneliness he sometimes feels. He knows that they will be fine - that  _he_ will be fine - and it will only get easier over time.  It’s only for a year anyway, and then there will be no need for nightly phone calls or skype dates or counting the days until he gets to see Bokuto next. He’ll have Bokuto as close as he wants him.

It’s only for a year, and then he’ll be right where he needs to be.

.

.

**Author's Note:**

> short prompt drabble from my tumblr (daisuga-s.tumblr.com)  
> also, scream at me on twitter @asukesay
> 
> as always, thanks for reading!


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